"They're back!" Kypher announced excitedly from his place at the window.
"It's about time!" Justice responded with his usual curtness, though unable to mask his obvious joy.
Kypher laughed. "Justice, if this were a funeral, you'd be mad at the man for dying! Just be glad h
"How about a speech there, Webber?" Vanguard called out from his place behind the camera to their left."Absolutely not!" Eliezer responded, turning his attentions to the room. "And you all should know better than to ask that of me, anyway! I don't give speeches, and what's more... I'm tired."
'It's no good: all of this death, all of this hurt. I won't allow it any longer. How long will this darkness prevail?'He stood alone in the library hall. They were all gone. They had left him according to the words of his request. There was only the stairwell, a clever means of slipping away into an underground world, which remained open to him. This had been his home, and those whom he had loved as family and cherished as friends he had hidden away within its walls, held in the safety of its depths.‘I appreciate your devotion and your sacrifice, truly, I do, but, this time, as I said, it is my turn to give to you.’He stretched forth his hand and let out a slow breath of air. Fire flew from his fingertips and impacted the carved stone of the wall, closing the entrance to the stairs and concealing it neatly beneath the bookshelf. He lowered his arm, content to have procured the safety of his companions.‘If I die, I die, but none shall perish beside me. For, if a man must die today,
There was a strange silence, broken only by the clacking of his boots against the stone portico as he apprehensively approached the doors of the large building. He had seen a group of men on horses leaving High Palace in pursuit of the officials following their escape. The troop had been headed by Zahaynei, and Kelvin was with them. He had lamented the boy's involvement, but some decisions could only be made by a man and not his friend. They were, however, being led by Kallida's birds, which made him uncomfortable, and he had seen the six men returning whilst he traversed the wood, which made him all the more uneasy. Now, the sight of the half-open door which led into a darkened library hall left him with great concern. He pressed his hand against the wood of the door, scraped and beaten, and he pushed it slowly open. The room was dark with a faint white glow emanating from it. 'The flame is out.' He felt his heart twisting as he entered the room with vigilant care. 'My nervousnes
'Ben...'She sat on her heels with her back against the wall and her eyes watching the ceiling. Kypher stood across from her, leaning against the wall with his face serious, arms crossed, and head down. There was a door to her left through which Justice had entered and behind which Eliezer still slept. Ellis and Mira had gone to make ready some provisions for their eventual, seemingly inevitable journey to somewhere, and Avera had elected to assist the Wellses in their preparations, which both Dorcus and Kypher had agreed was probably for the bes
The room was dark when he opened his eyes. He blinked, his mind adjusting back to reality. The dim lighting suggested it was somewhere past dusk, but whether it was the time after dusk or the time before morning would be difficult to determine with surety. He sat himself up, throwing his legs over the side of the bed. He put his hand to his face, pressing it against his tired skin, and stopped for a moment, staring at the blurred shadows in front of him.'Well... here we are.'
They were talking in the hallway about a place she had heard of but never been, a town called Elkshire. Sometimes referred to as the "Kingsmen Capital", Elkshire was a forest town and the most prominent of the eastern region. The town itself was relatively unremarkable with two notable exceptions. The first: that the Council of the Kingsmen was seated in Elkshire and from there they judged the Kingsmen from throughout the empire. The second: that Elkshire was itself a city-state, entirely independent of Altruon and its government.It was vital that Altruon and Elkshire should remain in
He rode at the front, Dorcus to his right, and Benjamin behind them with Justice and Alexander at his wings. Avera followed behind Benjamin with Joseph and Adrien accompanying her. It was a familiar journey and one which he had been given the task of navigating. Still, he was not accustomed to it by night, and he kept his map open as they moved quickly through the forest by the fading grey of dusk and twilight.
It was early in the afternoon when Mira and Ellis arrived in the wagon filled with supplies which everyone helped them to unpack at the direction of the kindly Phia Carder, who saw to it that all were properly settled and appropriately cared for, and all was now at peace as they approached the evening meal.Jordan had left for the Council meeting that morning, as was usual, determined to arrange a meeting between the Council and their Ambassador, but he had not yet arrived back, though it was near evening.